Medical Geology: An Interdisciplinary Approach Intended to Unfold the Issues of Natural Environment on Public Health

Abstract

All living organisms on the earth require elements (major, minor, and trace) for their survival, and excessive or insufficient consumption of such elements cause serious health problems. These elements usually reside in earth material of the geosphere from where they enter into biosphere through various continuously operating geological processes such as weathering, erosion, transportation, or volcanic eruptions. Medical geology is a new and emerging branch of geosciences that studies material derived from geological processes and its effects on the health of animals and plants. The relationship between elements derived from the geological processes and their impacts on human beings had been recognized from ancient times. Keeping the importance of medical geology to the society, various organizations had been working to popularize medical geology and to bring its benefits to the society by organizing various activities and offering courses in medical geology. Currently, medical geology is being developed as an interdisciplinary science with the coordination of geoscientists and health researchers to unfold the health issues associated with the use of material derived from the natural geo-environment. This paper presents a historical overview of medical geology from the very beginning to the present and highlights areas where future research attention is required. Keywords: Earth Material, Medical Geology, Geochemical Elements, Health, Geogenic Contaminants, Geo-biosphere